Heal-all is a common native of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is a member of the
mint family.

Identification: Plants are 1¾-16" (5-40 cm) high, usually toward
the small end of this. It is often found in lawns. Stems
are approximately square in cross section, green or reddish, and lightly to densely hairy. Leaves are up to
2" (6 cm) × ¾" (2 cm), oval or sometimes lance-shaped, on fairly long petioles (leaf stems).
The flowers appear on spikes at the top. They look uneven and disheveled because they don’t bloom all at once.
Each flower is about ⅜" (1 cm) around, purple on top and white below, and bilaterally symmetrical: if you cut it in half vertically, the
halves are mirror images. The lower center petal has a ragged edge.

Medical: As heal-all’s name suggests, it has long been used in
folk medicine, for a wide range of symptoms. Symptoms include fevers, rheumatism, liver ailments,
eye problems, swollen glands, urinary problems, sore throats; heal-all was also used
as an antibiotic and general cure-all.
Even today, it is sometimes used to treat minor injuries such as sores, burns, or bruises, and as a
mouthwash for mouth ulcers. However, I was not able to find any definitive studies on these medicinal
properties.

Flowers are blue, purple, or lavender, occurring in groups of 3. The flower shape is unusual. A small upper petal is divided into two lobes. A larger lower petal has a lobe on either side, and a large bottom lobe that is divided into two more lobes. Each flower is ⅜-½" (9.5-12 mm) across.

Flowers are ¼-¾" (6.3-19 mm), appearing from Mar to Oct. They are pink to red to purple in color.

Toothed, round or kidney-shaped, deeply and irregularly veined, and ¼-1¼" (6.3-31 mm). Each stem node has two opposite leaves, and each succeeded pair is rotated 90° from the last. Upper, younger leaves often have a red-violet tinge.